Censored 1999: The News That Didn't Make the News [Paperback]

Peter Phillips (Editor), Tom Tomorrow (Illustrator), Gary Webb (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 1999

The yearly volumes of Censored, in continuous publication since 1976 and since 1995 available through Seven Stories Press, is dedicated to the stories that ought to be top features on the nightly news, but that are missing because of media bias and self-censorship. The top stories are listed democratically in order of importance according to students, faculty, and a national panel of judges. Each of the top stories is presented at length, alongside updates from the investigative reporters who broke the stories.
Beyond the Top 25 stories, additional chapters delve further into timely media topics: The Censored News and Media Analysis section provides annual updates on Junk Food News and News Abuse, Censored Déjà Vu, signs of hope in the alternative and news media, and the state of media bias and alternative coverage around the world. In the Truth Emergency section, scholars and journalists take a critical look at the US/NATO military-industrial-media empire. And in the Project Censored International section, the meaning of media democracy worldwide is explored in close association with Project Censored affiliates in universities and at media organizations all over the world.
A perennial favorite of booksellers, teachers, and readers everywhere, Censored is one of the strongest life signs of our current collective desire to get the news we citizens need—despite what Big Media tells us.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

While members of the press and punditry were crawling all over each other to talk about Bill Clinton's sex life throughout 1998, other things were happening that you may not have heard about. Like the American government's repeated noncompliance with the UN's comprehensive test ban treaty on nuclear weapons. Or Nigerian soldiers being helicoptered to a Chevron facility by the company, shooting at a group of student demonstrators there, and killing two of them. Or that recently declassified documents suggest that--despite what we were told in the '50s--the fluoride in our water might not be so safe after all. Catch up on these and other stories the mainstream media never quite got around to reporting. Censored 1999 also has updates on coverage of the top underreported stories of 1998, a guide to online news resources, and several cartoons by Tom Tomorrow skewering the established media perspective. --Ron Hogan

About the Author

PROJECT CENSORED, founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen, has as its principal objective the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom of information in the United States. In 2008, Project Censored received the PEN/Oakland Literary Censorship Award for the publication of Censored 2009. For more information, visit www.projectcensored.org.
PETER PHILLIPS, director emeritus of Project Censored and president of the Media Freedom Foundation, is an associate professor of sociology at Sonoma State University. He is known for his op-ed pieces in the alternative press and independent newspapers nationwide, such as Z Magazine and Social Policy. He is also the winner of the 2009 Dallas Smythe Award, presented by the Union for Democratic Communication.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; First Printing edition (April 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888363797
• ISBN-13: 978-1888363791
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,005,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, November 17, 1999

By 

Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Censored 1999: The News That Didn't Make the News (Paperback)

The mainstream press controls what you see on the evening news and for most people that may be find, for the rest you need to read this book. What you haven't been told just might surprise you.

From how the United States has undermine the nuclear test ban treaty to tax money use to support death squads and 23 other "missing" stories, you may find yourself outraged and infuriated and maybe a little scared.

Project Censored has certainly done their homework with book; they bring out what we really need to know, not at all like the mainstream media reporting about sex in the oval office.

It would behoove every person to buy this book and begin to read reality for a change. It would also behoove everyone to take a closer look at what is being reported versus what they really need to know.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning! Horrific! Read This, Get Mad, and Act!!, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Censored 1999: The News That Didn't Make the News (Paperback)

The top-censored stories of 1998 are more nightmarish than usual. The corporate gods whose interests are best served by the underreporting or ignoring of these stories are becoming stronger and stronger. Corporations may soon be able to sue and defeat governments whose citizens are protected by current laws; Monsanto may bankrupt farmers with its one-shot sterile seeds; fluoride may make you sick or kill you; the same company responsible for your breast cancer may sell you drugs to cure it; etc.

Every American citizen should read each year's edition of the Project Censored neglected news. If collectively we do not act, we are doomed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Censored 1999 is a beginner's resource to neglected news, May 20, 1999

By 

Chris Chatham ([e-mail]) (Philadelphia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Censored 1999: The News That Didn't Make the News (Paperback)

Censored 1999 is a great resource for learning about the atrocities that corporate media overlooks. However, none of the articles present enough information; articles involving the death of millions of people, big money corporate scandals, and other major issues are usually given 2-3 pages. While Censored 1999 provides resources where the reader can get more information on these topics, the book itself has too much breadth and too little depth. This can hardly be blamed on Censored 1999, though; if the media itself did a better job of covering the real issues, then all of 1999's news wouldn't have to be crammed into a single book. Censored 1999 is a necessary index to the real issues, but if you want the full story you'll still have to do most of the research yourself.